Strategies

What Works for Health includes evidence-informed strategies to create communities where everyone can thrive.

20 Strategies
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Open gym time

Offer time during the school day for children to play in the gym, often during lunch period; shared use agreements can expand open gym opportunities to community members outside school hours
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources

Open Streets

Allow community members to gather, socialize, walk, run, bike, skate, etc. on streets temporarily to closed to motorized traffic; also called Ciclovía programs
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources
  • Climate

Physically active classrooms

Incorporate classroom-based physical activities, such as classroom energizers, into academic lessons or as a break, usually for elementary students
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Places for physical activity

Modify local environments to support physical activity, increase access to new or existing facilities for physical activity, or build new facilities
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources
  • Climate

Point-of-decision prompts for physical activity

Place motivational signs on or near stairwells, elevators, and escalators that encourage individuals to use stairs
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Recreational sports leagues for adults

Offer opportunities for adults to play athletic games such as soccer, softball, kickball, basketball, etc. at beginner, intermediate, and competitive levels
Evidence Rating:
Expert Opinion

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources

Safe Routes to Schools

Promote walking and biking to school through education, incentives, and environmental changes; often called SRTS
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Diet and exercise
  • Climate

Shared use agreements

Create contracts that support community access to existing public, private, or nonprofit facilities before or after business hours; also called joint use, open use, or community use agreements
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise
  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Walking school buses

Arrange active transportation with a fixed route, designated stops, and pick up times when children can walk to school with adult chaperones
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Diet and exercise
  • Climate

Zoning regulation and land use policy reforms

Reform zoning regulations to remove exclusionary zoning codes, address physical environment aesthetics and safety, street continuity and connectivity, residential density, and mixed-use development, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Diet and exercise
  • Air, water and land
  • Climate

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies